American Civil Liberties Union Records: Subgroup 3, Project Files Series, 1877-2000 (mostly 1970-1995)

MC001.03.02

Contents and Arrangement

Series 2: Project Files, 1877-2000

571 boxes

1 box

Scope and Contents

Collection Creator Biography:

American civil liberties union

The ACLU is the preeminent civil liberties organization in the United States. The ACLU describes itself as "our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country." Since its inception in 1920, the ACLU has played a part in nearly every significant American social or political issue in the 20th century. This includes important work in the areas of civil rights, children and women's rights, freedom of speech (and all First Amendment questions), and due process, among many others.

For a more detailed history of the ACLU, please see the history in the finding aid for the processed portion of the ACLU Records.

Acquisition:

Materials are transferred from the ACLU annually.

Appraisal

Personnel records, confidential legal records, and mold damaged records were separated from this series during processing.

Sponsorship:

These papers were processed with the generous support of the National Historical Publications Records Commission and the John Foster and Janet Avery Dulles Fund.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Adriane Hanson in 2010-2012 with the assistance of Special Collections Assistant David Gillespie and student assistants Brandon Joseph and Emma Watt. Finding aid written by Adriane Hanson in March 2012.

Boxes 2743 and 2907 were treated by American Freeze Dry, Inc. for mold.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

American Civil Liberties Union Records: Subgroup 3, Project Files Series; Public Policy Papers, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:

http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/r781wg768

Location:

Public Policy Papers

Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library

65 Olden Street

Princeton, NJ 08540, USA

(609) 258-6345

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Storage Note:

Mudd Manuscript Library (scamudd): Boxes 2575-2658; 2660-2662; 2664-3147

Existence and Location of Copies

American Civil Liberties Union Records: Subgroup 1, The Roger Baldwin Years is available on microfilm.

Public records of the ACLU from 1917 to 1989, from American Civil Liberties Union Records: Subgroup 2, have been microfilmed by the Microfilming Corporation of America (MCA) and University Microfilms International (UMI). These records include minutes of the board of directors, mailings to the board of directors, biennial conference papers, policy guides, the national legal docket, organization manuals, constitution and bylaws, legal briefs, and publications.

Related Materials

American Civil Liberties Union, Washington, D.C. Office Records

The Mudd Manuscript Library holds the papers of several ACLU officers:

Roger Nash Baldwin Papers

Peggy Lamson Collection on Roger Baldwin

Osmond K. Fraenkel Diaries

Jeffrey E. Fuller Papers

Arthur Garfield Hays Papers

Laura W. Murphy Papers

Carol Pitchersky Papers

Nadine Strossen Papers

The Mudd Library also holds the records of several organizations involved in civil rights, including:

American United for the Separation of Church and State Records

Fund for the Republic Records

Law Students Civil Rights Research Council Records

World Press Freedom Committee Records

The Manuscripts Division at Princeton University holds the P.E.N. American Center Records.

Other Finding Aids

This finding aid describes a portion of the American Civil Liberties Union Records held at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library. For an overview of the entire collection, instructions on searching the collection and requesting materials, and other information, please see the Guide to the American Civil Liberties Union Records.

Bibliography

Historical sketch based on In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU by Samuel Walker. See also Samuel Walker's The American Civil Liberties Union: An Annotated Bibliography.

Subject Terms:

Arts -- Censorship.
Capital punishment -- Moral ethical aspects -- United States.
Children -- Institutional care -- Law legislation.
Children's rights -- United States.
Civil rights -- United States -- Cases.
Civil rights -- United States.
Discrimination -- United States.
Reproductive rights.
Sex discrimination against women -- Law legislation -- United States.
Women's rights -- United States.

Genre Terms:

Correspondence
Legal files.
Publications.

Names:

American civil liberties union